Netflix to Purchase Radford Studio Center in Studio City

Netflix is adding to its Los Angeles real estate portfolio with the historic Radford Studio Center lot in Studio City.

The streaming giant is in talks to purchase the studio space for less than one-third of its 2021 sale price of nearly $1.9 billion after lenders including Goldman Sachs Group seized control of the property, the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg reported. The exact price has not been settled and the deal has yet to close, according to sources close to the matter cited by the Times.

Goldman Sachs took back the keys to the property after Hackman Capital Partners, the studio’s previous operator, defaulted on a $1.1 billion mortgage in January. Goldman Sachs is reportedly looking to hand off the property to Netflix for between $330 million and $400 million, per the Times.

Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital Management won the bidding war for the Studio City property in 2021, acquiring the 55-acre studio from ViacomCBS for nearly $1.9 billion. In the past, Radford Studio Center served as a production space for silent films as well as popular TV series such as “Seinfeld,” “Gilligan’s Island” and “Will & Grace.”

Netflix is looking to consolidate its real estate footprint in one place, reportedly considering relocating from a group of Hollywood buildings it leases from Hudson Pacific Properties, per Bloomberg.

The streamer previously submitted an $82.7 billion bid to buy Warner Bros. studios and streaming services in December but pulled out of the battle after being outbid by Paramount Skydance. The firm, which has largely leased rather than owned properties in the past, is currently developing a $1 billion production center in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. In 2020, it purchased the historic Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and continues to operate it.

Property values for Los Angeles studios have fallen since the 2023 writer and actor strikes while interest rates tick upward. Non-studio-associated landlords such as Hackman have borne much of the brunt as productions moved to studios owned by the massive entertainment companies that dominate Los Angeles. Last month, Deutsche Bank AG sued Hackman to foreclose on its Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York City.

Los Angeles soundstage occupancy dropped to 62 percent in the first half of last year, per FilmLA data cited by Bloomberg. As of September, Radford Studio Center was 61 percent leased, with roughly half of the leases slated to expire this year. — Chris Malone Méndez